He is the proud Founder & Chief Architect of cognitiveSEO, an SEO Toolset focused on in-depth analysis of
ranking signals. With over 8 years experience in affiliate marketing and search engine optimization and 12
years in programming and web development, he has gone from Web Developer to Super Affiliate for large
international networks. With a strong focus on everything that is Search Engine related, he developed
strategies to stand-out search engine updates. His passion for search engine marketing led him to create
his own SEO Toolset, trying to solve the issues that he is facing in the search engine optimization field.

10 Comments.

I often read many posts where SEO experts frown upon Blackhat strategies but then openly promote link building. According to Google’s TOS, natural links are links others point back to your site without the need to pay for it, ask for it, comment for it or insert a link in your article to gain it.

So, if all link building strategies are in effect manipulating search engine results, doesn’t it stand to reason that all link building is Blackhat and the majority of off-page SEO practiced by SEO firms is in effect, Blackhat?

Isn’t having an online business all about rankings, traffic and conversions in the first place and search engine optimization should essentially be a technical, and possibly not a moral or ethical issue?

I’m definitely in agreement with Samuel on this one. When a potential client asks me whether I do White hat, Grey hat, or Black hat SEO, I respond with “No Hat SEO”. Then of course, I go on to explain that I do what gets long-term results for my clients – by persuading trusted authority sites to link to the client website.

As Razvan said, “Indeed Linkbuilding, can be seen as a “Black Hat” SEO marketing strategy,but it can also be a “White Hat” strategy.”

It’s all a matter of perspective and attitude. Do you do short term SEO or long term SEO? if it’s long-term SEO, then you are engaging in clean, powerful link building.

Indeed Linkbuilding, can be seen as a “Black Hat” SEO marketing strategy,but it can also be a “White Hat” strategy.

A “White Hat Link Building” example would be:
“Guest Posting” – you write an article on a popular site that is read by many people and that artcile will generate an amount of backlinks pointing to your site eventually.The would be natural acquired backlinks.

This is just one method. There are many more White Hat methods of Link Building.

Excellent. I still believe users shouldn’t piss search engines by using black hat link building strategies. I am a blogger, and I have full faith in White Hat Link building tactics. By the way, you have written a wonderful piece. Keep up the good work.